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Editorial

Being a senior sculptor and artist has never stopped artist Usha Ramachandran from finding her way and making her mark in the art world. The simplification of the form and theme has taken Usha Ramachandran to the galaxy of bigger stars of sculpture like Brancussi and Giocometti.. says Johny ML in his Editorial today.

Many of our young artists fail thoroughly in life and career though they feel the seeming victory in facebook, mainly because of this; they go abroad for 33 days come back and try to do art like what they have seen there. There is a constant replication of the same for the sake of feeling international. That is bound to fail. That’s where Gandhiji becomes important as an artist. He looked around and saw things. With is heightened imagination, sense of purpose, mission, vision and die hard romanticism he conceptualised them and gave them symbolic forms..says Johny ML in this Editorial

There is an interest of somebody to move the art activities to Fort Kochi completely. And could it be the result of the futuristic thinking that the Durbar Hall, one of the venues of the KMB may be reclaimed by the artists through the help of the Lalitha Kala Akademy? Is it a ploy to divide the opinion of the artists who do not totally agree with either Akademy or the KMB? Is it a way to create more spaces for the artists in Fort Kochi so that the mainland would be abandoned and an exclusivity would produced around the location and aesthetics within Fort Kochi? Who is the manipulator behind these moves? Is it a part of legitimizing certain art activities?

EDITORIAL: Debating the False Notions about Failure in Art and Poverty of the Artist / Johny ML Hochimin PH, a Kochi based artist posts the pictures of one of his granite sculptures in the Facebook and many people like it. The artist makes it amply clear that it is not an ‘independent’ work but an…

In this editorial JohnyML asks why Indian artists are becoming increasingly irrelevant in global as well as national scenario. He makes an interesting parallel between Ram Kinkar Baij and Subodh Gupta saying: Baij openly defied such scholarship and indulged in frolicking a bit. Gupta was rebellious when he did the initial performances and when he chose to metal cast the Bihari-ness (the objects). But later he turned into a conformist, shying away anything that would make him responsible for the contemporary culture of the country. I do not argue for the artist to be a scholar and a political commentator. But Baij was political in his works, Gupta is not. Gupta has mythology in his works (in the Barthesean terms), Baij had living histories in his works. That’s why Baij remains and Gupta fades.

As an artist Nandagopal was inclined to the Indian philosophy that viewed life and time as a river as well as a tree. This aspect is one perhaps adopted by most of the artists who studied under KCS Paniker. From J Sultan Ali to Redappa Naidu to SG Vasudev, one could see various manifestations of trees and rivers.. writes Johny ML, editor-in-chief Art Tehelka

Today is the first death anniversary of the artist, Rajan Krishnan. There are a few commemorative meetings in Kerala. But is that enough? Isn’t it necessary to build a history around the artist if he is to be relevant in the contemporary art history in India, asks JohnyML.